The Blackout Horror
by WordsbyLulu
Summary: He refused to leave her alone. He haunted her dreams and killed people she loved. He was waiting for her to sleep. When the city goes through emergency power cuts the people start disappearing in the middle of the night and the only person who might be able to help has a sick obsessive attraction towards the person he should be protecting. He loved her. She loves Troy Bolton.
1. Chapter 1

**A\N**: This isn't the conventional HSM fanfic but I like it and hope you'll do too.

* * *

Chapter 1

_The haunting of…_

_I relish in knowing the only thing separating us from them is the door.  
The door is not even locked; should someone walk in they would see us.  
See the three of us in the room, in a very interesting situation._

_The room is dark and the flickering candle on the table provides a magnificent solace in me._

_We can hear their dancing on the dance floor from inside the closed room we're in._  
_We can feel their intoxicated bare- feet touch the hardwood floor and hear the sashay of dresses and loose belts sway across the room in unison with the music.  
_  
_Their voices and the intonation of their laughter fills the room as Sheeran sings about the mysteries of how people fall in love._  
_Sheeran, she likes him; she said once she could close her eyes and listen to his voice all night. I told her to close her eyes and listen to my voice._  
_She laughed and said no, so I held a gun near her head while she was sleeping. She never woke to see me there. She only turned and her beautiful face_  
_looked my way. I pushed the gun on her forehead and asked her to dream about me._

_Now I see that same beautiful face staring back at me only with petrified brown eyes. It angers me when she looks anywhere but at me, and she knows that._  
_She knows that I love her more than my own family._

_I see Grant Hill standing where I told him to, I like how obedient he is. He's very ill-mannered in any given day but for some reason when I point a gun to his head he's quiet and compliant, interesting._  
_I almost like the guy now._

_But since he's always been horrible to the girl I love I have to kill him._  
_I have to kill him now. The idea of killing a college student at a party with the door unlocked in the A.M almost makes me smile, almost. I aim the firearm and just before the trigger goes off I hear her screams beg me not to._

_"And?"_

_I open my eyes and remove myself from the situation and turn to my fellow inmate, "He's dead"_

Then she woke with the blood spluttered all over her face.

* * *

'EIGHTH COLLEGE STUDENT MISSING'

It was the second day of summer and the power was cut again.

The streets were dark and empty and the city was experiencing emergency power cuts to conserve electricity. Power was cut for six hours at a time and those who did not prepare for the crisis were stuck in total darkness. Those who simply did not have a candle had to stay in the dark.

Eight missing people had been reported missing in the past power cuts. People were kidnapped or reported missing every time the electricity was gone. The citizens were unnerved and scared because even those with high end security were affected, Grant Hill, the Sheriff's nephew, being the latest.  
It was still dark out and the candles around the small house were now almost waxed out.

Down the corridor in the bathroom Gabriella shoved her bloodied clothing into a black plastic bag and tied it shut. She walked to the sink and washed her hands, her arms, her chest and her face. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were large and bloodshot and almost looked like Hill's blood had spurt in them. She tightened her grip on the sides of the sink and lowered her head. She slouched her shoulders and the tears started down her face. Then a sob left her and she lifted her hand and covered her mouth. She walked to the toilet and sunk down beside it. Covering her mouth she cried as quietly as she could.  
When her sobs conduced uncontrollable heaves she lifted her feet and bent her legs and sunk her face on her knees, with her hands covering her face.  
All she could see was his dark haunted eyes. His stare blaming her for the death of the person he had killed.  
The person they had killed, he would say. Had she killed Grant Hill and Jennifer Langley? Though eight people were reported 'missing' she had only witnessed him kill two people.

All she could have done was visit him in prison like he had requested and Hill would still be alive but out of fear she had refused. He had asked and threatened a life and she had said no time and time again. Was her refusal to be compliant the reason for Hill's death?

When dawn crept that morning all she wanted to do was scream and shout but in doing so she would wake her boyfriend.  
He already wasn't getting enough sleep because of her. She always woke him when Jon Landau set her free after he involved her in one of his nightmare killings.

But she couldn't wake him up again.

She didn't understand it. How could Jon do it? Could they share a dream, could he actually kill people in his dreams?  
Why would he show her such cruelty?

Maybe she was just too weak, too fragile to not shatter in his presence, she felt lately.

Though he said he felt it he didn't seem to know what love was. His art obsessed parents abandoning him for some experiment didn't help his understanding of the emotion.  
She regretted ever professing her love for him once upon a time. She regretted her naïve schoolgirl attraction towards his mystery, towards his surprise spontaneity, towards his love for adrenalin and danger. At the age of fourteen she had quickly forgiven his known flaws only because he was the first boy who looked at her and honestly proclaimed his love towards her. In her adolescence she had given herself over and over to him. He was her first love and now at the age of nineteen he was her biggest fear. He simply refused to let her go.  
She wished they didn't share the one thing that would tie them together for life.

She feared sleeping.

Sleeping was the only way he saw and communicated with her during his six month jail sentence. He killed those she knew because she wouldn't get back together with him, she wouldn't leave Troy and be with him.

She knew being with Troy put his life in grave danger but every time she tried to break up with him from a horrifying dream he always comforted her and kissed her, offering his shoulder and the whispering of a life together.

After her tears had subsided and the pain enlightening her with a solution she stood from her slumber and opening the medicine cabinet she grabbed Troy's razor and placed it near her arm. She deserved it. Eight people died because of a sick love, because of her inability to see someone's true evil colours even when they were magnified and spoke of their fragility in years to come.

"Don't do it" he said, standing outside the door.

"Troy," she wavered, her voice heavy, her eyes never leaving the razor on her arm, "he killed Hill tonight, I saw him kill Hill because I was too scared to go and see him. It's my fault. I deserve this".

Troy took a steading breath and fearing the closeness of the razor near her flesh, he hid his fear and feigned resolve, "Then maybe you should go see him".

She moved her arm and quickly took a few steps towards him, momentarily forgetting her task, "I can't go see him, he'll get in my head and I just want to shut it off" she turned back and pushed the razor blades across her flesh and cut through. The blood oozed out. Troy ran to her and grabbed the razor from her hand. "NO!" he yelled, "I'll go with you" he quickly uttered the words.

"You can't, he doesn't want to see you with me".

"We'll tell him if he really wants to see you he'll have to stomach my presence, he'll have to take it or leave it"

She cocked her head and sighed in desperation, "Why are you with me? You don't have to go through this"

"Because I have fallen in love with you, Gabriella"

She closed her eyes and moved away from him, "Don't say that,", she whispered, dismissing his words with her hand,"I don't want to hear that word anymore, it's killed too many people".

Shaking his head he walked passed her and grabbed a bandage from the cabinet. He cut a large piece with his teeth and headed towards her. "Then I like the way I feel about you" he said, his eyes never leaving hers as he rolled the bandage around her wound, "very much".

"I like the way I feel about you". She said with the knowing that no relationship of ten months deserved that kind of torment.

* * *

_This music is driving me insane._

_My cellmate Chilli is sitting on his bed gazing at the roof. He is probably contemplating the next two months until his release, just like I am, counting the minutes until I can see her beautiful face again. See the twinkle in her eyes when she sees my face as I walk out._

_I know by the time I'm out she will have gathered her senses and left that washed-out Quarterback in the gutter. She'll be mine again._

_The run-down music stops._

_Wait._

_I can feel her._

_I can feel her near me._

_I can almost see her vintage dress. She loved vintage dresses. I can feel her in the building. I can hear her voice from a distance away. Seconds and minutes pass until a guard appears to sight and tells me of a visitor._

_She's here. She's finally here._

_The roommate looks away from his reverie and looks my way with a disinterested gaze. I've told him of her numerous times. The cell gate is opened and the guard is behind cuffing my hands but I can't feel anything besides the anticipation of seeing her after four months._

_I walk with the guard behind me and one of them opens the door where visitors await._

_We walk out and entering a large room I finally see her. I see her beautiful face looking around. Her hair is longer, and she changed her lipstick colour. She's not wearing a dress. She's not wearing a vintage dress. She has jeans and a top on._

_Why?_

_The guard leads me towards her and now in my view I see him sitting beside her, holding her hand on the table. There's a bandage around her arm. She's hurt. He hurt her._

_She's looking at him and not at me. I hate that, she knows I hate that._

_Fuck him!_

* * *

Thanks for reading guys :)

Tell me what you thought and if I should post more because I have so much planned for this fanfic.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_the blackout monsters…_

_Like a moth lingering outside a window, in the dark, trapped from entering the lighted room, like a fish outside its home lost and confused on foreign ground, and like a child spiraling and falling while the world took notice and moved on, life fucking happens._

_The world moved on from my pain and continued with their lives._  
_They took away their warm shoulders, their caring smiles and pitying eyes. They stole back their love and affection and kept it for their own welfare. They left me alone. They moved on from my suffering and pressed the pause button they had pushed when my parents left._  
_They went back to their laughing and joking, their inside jokes and partying, their happiness and love._

_I was eight._  
_I was alone. I had no friends. I had no parents. I had nothing._  
_I had a thing though. The only thing I thought none of as a gift was the ability of seeing those who could not be seen. I could see the undead, communicate and interact with them. I was eight when I would see these tall black things. I would hear them around my house every night during the hours of twelve A.M and three A.M.  
Every night I would awaken with the cold air around my room. I would pull my blanket close to my nose and try to stifle the fear. They came every night. I think my parents were aware of them. They called out to them in hopes of seeing them. They could never see them but they always knew when they were there. I never told them I could see the thing they dreamed of seeing. I was too afraid that their obsessions would use me to communicate with the thin stick figures. I was eight, I was not sure of how much my parents loved me to keep me safe from them._  
_I never understand how or why I could see them and my parents could not.  
_  
_But I knew they weren't real so I ignored and showed no respect for them. They came every night until one morning I woke and my parents were gone. Their beds were still made, as if they waited for them, they sat waiting for the things to take them._  
_Even after they had taken my parents they still visited my house every night. I was nine and they were there. I was twelve and they were there. I feared that they would take me as well. But they never did. Though they surrounded my bed each night with held hands they never took me from my bed. Over time I would close my eyes and not stare at them as they would stare at me. They seemed so angry, maliciousness in their faces. I shut my eyes even though I could feel the cold air thicken around me.  
When I was thirteen the only thing I thought of was the cold, they made me cold. I ignored them. They hated that I ignored them. But I didn't care, not anymore._  
_I just covered myself with a second blanket._

_Until one day a brown haired girl looks at me at school._  
_She was the only one who smiled without the hint of mock or the whisperings of a bet in the air._  
_I liked her immediately. She was quiet like me, she was smart and funny, she loved to dance to music. I became her real friend when I gifted her my radio. I never told her where I got it._  
_As long as she loved it I didn't care about anything anymore._

_We played together a lot. She loved to wear dresses and bows in her hair. I loved her quickly._  
_We were together all the time until she found her voice in the school. She started speaking to other kids as well and within a year she had a good circle of friends. As the years passed and we grew into teenagers they often tried to convince her to stop being friends with me. They told her I was a freak, that I was weird. But she always defended me. I hated them. Though we were still close friends her time with me was now cut short because they wanted her too._  
_They took my best friend away from me. They took yet another thing from me._

* * *

It was two hours passed midnight and candles were placed around the Granger home.  
It was a Thursday night and the blackout lasted longer than usual. The candles barely covered the dark and they illuminated the steps they took around the house.  
Rain had begun and the quiet roams of thunder echoed with each moment.  
The silhouettes were inside the house and they treaded upstairs for the elderly couple.

When the door creaked as they turned the handle Mr Granger turned in his bed, murmuring something in his sleep.  
One of them walked to Mrs Granger and stood by her side. It stood for three minutes staring at her sleeping body, ten minutes, thirty minutes, hour, three hours had passed when Mr Granger woke from a coldness surround him.

When he opened his eyes he saw a black, skinny figure leaning against his wife.  
He focused his weak eyes and saw the blur shape of a face. His sight was unclear because his glasses lay beside the bedside table.

He opened his mouth in horror when he saw black-like smoke leave his wife's mouth and into its face.  
Within seconds his wife's face lost its skin and the blanket flattened around her body. In forty seconds his wife was bone.  
His mouth quivered as he saw it lift its head and rise. He felt a strange pull from his right and when he turned the second one was against him, leaning towards his face like the first one did. Mr Granger couldn't see clearly but he saw the shape draw closer to him and pain radiated throughout his face.

He could feel his skin pull.  
The man shook his head and held his hands on his face. The elderly man could feel the cold within it, the evil it had and seconds later he felt. He felt pain like he had never before. His skin pulled from his face slowly at first. The man yelled and with each second the pain was excruciating. He wanted to cry and scream again but it occupied him. Like knives chopping his skin off the thing drew closer until smoke came out the man's mouth.  
After that he couldn't feel anything. While the thing was still pulling from him beside he saw his wife lift from her bed. Only it was her shadow, a ghost. She got up out of bed and stood. The first thing held on to her shoulder and guided her out the door.

* * *

No one spoke for a long time.  
Troy stared at Jon Landau, he stared at Gabriella and she concentrated on the table. She could feel his gaze on her, this wasn't like her dreams, and she knew he couldn't control her outside her dreams.

She held on to that.

"Don't you dare look at her" Troy said, spitting the words with disgusted hate.

"Troy" she looked at her boyfriend, scolding him with her grip, reminding him of the control she had asked him to have. She shifted her eyes and slowly readied herself for his cold stare. She dragged her gaze and looked from the white table to his hands, his clothing, his mouth and eventually his eyes. He smiled at her when she finally locked eyes with him. Her heart sunk. The strength she practiced faded into the depth of his hooded stare.

"Hi", he said.

She knew better than to look away once she locked with him. He trapped her, his voice lingered the hint of a threat. Even with Troy beside her the intense fear she always felt was there, staring at her, "Hi"

He smiled, his eyes glistened, with his voice soft and threatening, "How are you?"

She wanted to tell him off, enforce the brevity but what came out was a small insecure, "I haven't been sleeping well lately".

"You know I'm not sorry for that. I asked you to see me" he turned to Troy, "However the invitation did not include him".

"You son of a bitch" Troy said.  
_  
_"Why am I here, Jon?" she asked, strengthening her grip on Troy once again.

"I wanted to see your face" he adds almost immediately, his eyes lightening.

She took a calming breather, "Why am I here, Jon?"

"I wanted to see your face"

"You wanted to see my face?"

"Yes"

"Why"

"Because I love you"

"Okay. Now what?"

"I want to talk to you. Alone" he said.

"That's not happening" Troy said, staring icily at Jon. "Say what you have to so we can get the fuck out of here"

"I'm not saying anything until Gabriella is sitting opposite me with an empty chair beside her", he murmured, his hood directed at Gabriella.

"Fine" Troy got up from his seat and walked towards one of the empty tables, grabbed a chair, and walked back and sat it next to Gabriella. "There, empty chair".

"Troy. Stop it" Gabriella said, seeing the anger in Jon's eyes heighten; anger she knew usually escalated quickly after a point. "Maybe you should stand next to the guard"

"What" he spurted, looking at Gabriella, "I'm not leaving you with this freak show"

"Troy, don't call him that"

"What a freak show?" he yelled.

Quicker than anyone would have guessed and responded Jon jumped on the table and spread his locked hands over Troy's head and strangled him.

"JON! NO!" Gabriella tried to push him off the table but his rage powered his hold over Troy. Everyone in the room stopped and stared in fear and shock as four guards ran towards him and with combined man power pulled him away from Troy. They dragged him away and Jon yelled, "They'll take you, you need me" he said, all way through as the guards dragged him out and towards his cell.

"Are you okay" Gabriella walked towards him and touched his face and neck, inspecting for bruises.

"I'm fine" he said, dismissing her worry.

"No you're not, Troy. What happened to that little talk we had in the house and minutes before we saw him. What happened to hearing him out?"

"The guy's a lunatic. You can't listen to anything he says"

"Well I just thought maybe just maybe if we listen to him he might stay out of my head"

"He's not going to bother you anymore", he said warily.

"And how do you know that? Will you be there when he forces me to watch kill someone else I know? Oh that's right, you can't, can you?" he leaned up, looking into him. "You know I just want him to leave me alone, Troy".

Troy sighed, "I'm sorry. The guy just makes me so angry".

She locked his gaze in hers, searching for some solution to her confusion, but all she got was his contrition, nothing more. "Just forget it, Troy" she said and walked out.  
"Baby" he called running after her.

* * *

Later that night Gabriella sat in her bed reading the article about Grant Hill, again.  
Grant Hill was never nice to her, never polite to her, frankly he was always a jerk but he was dead now and her dislike of him was the reason behind it. She searched his eyes trying to remember the hate she had for the twenty-one year old.  
But all she felt was regret, and guilt. The Hill's were mourning their son's death. Their son's permanent absence from their lives and she lived on.  
That was not fair.

He knocked on the door, "Can I come in?"

When she didn't respond to him he came in with a box in his hand. He walked to her and sat the tray on the bed and perched on the corner of it. She concentrated on the article, avoiding him when he clicked and opened the box. First he pulled out a ticket of some sort.

"This was my first concert. I was eleven"

The second item held in his hand was a bracelet. "This belonged to my mother, she gave it to me to pass it down. I was seventeen"

"And this CD contains the song I heard when I met you freshman year of college. Last year"

She looked away from the article and watched his hands. "And this is the movie ticket for our first date".

He pulled out an Ed Sheeran album, "'Kiss Me' was the song you used to tell me you loved me for the first time, eight weeks ago"

She lowered her head at the thought.  
"This box contains everything I have ever cared enough about that I'd never want to forget. I forget Gabriella, and memories are too important to me to rely on past thought. And this thing that this guy is doing to you kills me, I sleep because hearing you talk about your nightmares in the aftermath is better than being forced to watch you in pain. Because he never lets you wake up until he wants you to and I hate that. I hate it, and I wish I could help but I can't and I know I can't so I take sleeping pills and I sleep it off. It's selfish of me I know but I can't deal with it. I don't how to deal with it and I'm sorry about that. I'm truly sorry that I can't help you the way you need me to"

She looked up and met his blue eyes, the pain in his eyes told her to never tell him about her nightmares. She had no idea that it affected him that badly and after hearing his words she swore she would make it easier for him. Even if it meant lying.

"I love you, Troy"

"Is the word allowed back in?" he asked and she nodded. Bending her head as she cried from where she sat, covering her face. "No it's not, not yet" he said and got on the bed and held her

She cried on his shoulder.

"I don't have to say it for you to know though, right?"

She nodded on his shoulder. "Hey" he placed his hand under her chin and gently leaned her up towards his eyes. "Every time I look at you, I'm saying it, okay?"

"Yes"

"Oh, Baby, I promise you I will destroy this guy, whatever it takes"

* * *

_I waited for a very long time that night.  
She never slept that night.  
I lay in my cell waiting for her but she never slept. I waited for hours. That night I never got a chance to warn her about the danger that was nearing her.  
I never got a chance because of Troy Bolton, again.  
He took her away from me.  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**A\N: **Please review and let me know what you thought.

* * *

Chapter 3

_the heart within..._

Bang!  
Her eyes burst open and stared at the ceiling. The room was quiet and the air was cold. She turned towards the window and it was locked.  
It was so cold.

She extended her hand and felt a warm body beside her. Turning back she saw the quiet slumber of Troy as he slept through the night.  
He was fast asleep, he must have taken sleeping pills again. Good, he needed the sleep if he had to be at the garage at seven A.M for summer work. She didn't want to worry him if it was just a house noise or an animal outside.  
She moved the covers and slipped into her slippers and covered her body with a robe around her waist and headed out the door.

She walked down the corridor and peaked a quick glance around the guest bedroom. Nothing. She sighed and soothed her hair out of her face as she walked towards the living-room. She clicked the light switch and the light didn't come on.  
Weird. The power was supposed to be back at two-thirty that morning.

She headed for the door and tried to open it. It was locked, Troy had double checked all the doors before they went to sleep that night.  
Taking unassuming steps she slightly pushed back the curtains and inspected the front yard. It was dark, really dark but she could not miss the figure standing behind the tree in the yard. The person was thin and tall and stood behind the tree like a stone. He didn't move a muscle.  
Did he know that she could see him?

She placed both her hands on the window and inched closer to the glass, squinting her eyes and concentrating on the figure's frame. She focused on the face but even with pinched eyes she could not make out who it was. She could not recognize a thing about the person.  
It was just too dark. She parted her lips and idly wondered whether she should open the door and ask him what he was doing but moments later the person removed himself from behind the tree and stood, his full frame now visible.  
She still could not make out who it was. But he was tall, really tall and really thin. He stood motionless facing her as she did him.  
He was almost statuesque, too still to bring her comfort.  
What was he going to do?

The anticipation made her feel scared and guarded.

He stood for a long time, seemingly staring at her. She wanted to call Troy but he probably would not hear her, his pills slumbered him out. Now scared and frightened she took a step back, he stood there, motionless. When she took another step back the figure suddenly walked with large exaggerated steps toward her, his legs were long and thin.

She took a breathe and stepped back waiting for him to stop but he didn't. His strides were long and determined and just when he was a few feet in front of her she turned to run but before she could the furniture in the living-room melted and disappeared and transported her someplace else.

She was outside. In a large thick field with nothing but pitch darkness surrounding her. There was nothing she knew, not even an object she could hold on to for familiarity.  
How did she get there? Why was she there?

She feared to move away from the spot she stood, not knowing what was in front of her. But from a distance she heard a weak faint sound. she couldn't make out whether it was a cry or laugh. What was going on?

"Hello" she said, her voice small and hoping whatever she was calling towards wasn't looking to hurt her. "Hello?"

"Come here" it said, weak and faint again.

"Where are you?"

"Come here. I need your help"

"Where are you?" she whispered, her voice scared, and when she gathered the minuscule amount of courage she could conjure within her she walked forward. She held her arms in front of her and within a few seconds of hearing the voice silhouettes of movement appeared in the dark.

She stopped.

Looking at the image in front of her she gathered there seemed to be three people. They all were as tall as the one she saw in her yard. This time she was more conscious of them. From a distance from her they stood in a circle with their hands intertwined and their heads faced down.  
Folding her arms around her chest the air turned really cold and she shivered, she noticed black smoke leave her every time she took a breathe.  
_What was going on?_

From her view she saw one of them had turned and stood aside from the circle. She took a breathe and prepared herself. The one that moved, stood facing her, motionless, just like before. Was he going to chase her again. But before she could take a steadying step back she noticed something behind him, what they had been looking at.

A crib.

A crib was between them.

Was there a baby in that crib? Were they going to hurt that baby?

If there was a baby in the crib it was too quiet, too motionless. Was it asleep, was it alive?  
The one that had stood aside suddenly took large quick struts toward her, just like before. _Oh No._

The baby started crying.

When she turned to run she felt hands grip her shoulders tightly. "Gabriella"

She looked up and the familiar face was now unrecognizable, she could see his red eyes and his lips quivered. "Chad?"

"I need your help."

"Chad", she shook his shoulders but he looked down, shaking his head as she heard him start to sob. "Chad"

"He's right behind me. He wants to kill me"

"Who" she asked and the touch of her grip on his hands faded. He was gone. The baby started crying again.

When she turned back around remembering the thing that had attempted to chase her before - she felt excruciating abdominal pain. She held on to her stomach in agony and fell to the ground, screaming and groaning as the pain spread across her belly. Opening her eyes for a few seconds she found herself back in her living-room, huddled on the floor.

It was quiet.

The pain was gone. There was nothing.

The electricity came on and lighted the room.

* * *

Troy stopped the car by 'Vickey's Quick Stop' shop parking lot and rested his hand on the gear. He turned from the straight-view that he had concentrated on for the entire car ride and looked down.

She sighed and grabbed her bag. "I should go. Mr Vickey will kill me if I'm late for work on the first day"

Troy removed his hand from the gear and faced her, forcing the question he'd been holding since waking up in the morning and finding her on the living-room floor with her knees bent and face down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine"

"Did you dream again? Did Jon-"

"I said I'm fine Troy, okay" she murmured, "please just let it go"

He tilted his head, seeing her pale face and her wandering eyes stare anywhere but at him, "What happened, Gabriella?"

"Nothing, Troy" she said, exasperated.

He didn't believe her. "You would tell me if something happened, right?"

She stared down, "Yes".

He still didn't believe her, her eyes were too heavy for her light heart. She was too easily affected by things and her distraught often wrote itself in her eyes. He studied her in the few months that they were dating. He turned straight forward again, in resignation.  
He put a hand in his pocket and handed her something. She looked in his hand and there he held the bracelet he had told her about from his box of prized possessions, the one his mother had given him, "Here"

She sighed. "Your mother told you to hand it down to a person of importance to you, Troy. We've only been dating for ten months"

He chuckled mournfully and brought his hand back and rested it on his knee, staring down at the jewelry. "You're worried that you're going to lose me" he said,"you're keeping me in the dark because you think I'll run off".

He caressed the bracelet in his hands, "I'm sitting right in front of you and you're the one who's backing away from me". He looked up and her brow furrowed as her pain gently painted on her face.

"I'm losing you, Gabriella. And sometimes I wonder if I even had a chance with you. I mean I can't even say I love you anymore without it being painful for you". She looked up in his eyes. "That's not how a relationship should be and I hate it. It makes me really angry that I'm losing the girl I love to another guy, who's in prison"

She broke her gaze from his inspecting eyes again. "Tell me. Am I losing you?"

She bit her lip. She couldn't look in his waiting eyes because she knew he wouldn't like her answer. Mr Vickey knocked on his glass window and she looked up at him. He pointed to his watch and motioned her to come inside.  
She looked away and turned to Troy and he was still waiting, his eyes broken, "I have to go". she said.

He nodded, his anger emanating, "Right". he said, understanding her non-response.

"I'll see you later? At the bar with Taylor and Chad?"

"Yep". he said quickly, looking ahead, and starting the car.

After a while she got out of the car and he heard Mr Vickey say something about punctuality in the workplace in his thick Muslim accent. He stared ahead at the busy street with his hands firmly on the steering wheel, "I'll die before I let that happen".

He said and drove off.

* * *

_I stare at her picture. Her smiling face staring back at me with love. I smile back at her, caressing her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes._

_I love when she looks at me with those eyes._

_I sit back against the wall as the inmates in front of me chew their cud with disgusting mannerisms and obvious inability of estimating the proximity of the people they were talking to. They speak so fucking loud._

_When I get out of here I will burn this place down with all of them in it. Even Steel; he may seem like a friend but he only talks to me because of bored amusement. He thinks I'm a freak. Just like they all did in school._

_Though he is the only person I speak with in this disgusting place he will burn with the others. He is no friend of mine._

_I stare at the scope of people in front of me. They all blur. They are still there, but i want them gone. So they are gone. The field is now empty. There is no one in front of me, the field is empty._

_Except two royal guardians. Royal guardians are species from The Godwana Tribe instructed to fetch and protect the royal family. They stand in front of me, their dark thin bodies talking to me._

_Their waiting for me, they say. They are waiting for the two of us._

_They tell me the child is protected and under the guardians protection. They tell me they can't leave until the royal family is complete in the Tribe._

_The family is not complete, they can't go back to the Tribe until the family is complete._

_They stand in front of me, they are getting impatient. They say they will kill until the Mother is with the royal child._

_They are waiting for the Mother of the child. They are waiting for her, my beautiful brown eyes._

_They won't leave until the royal parents leave with them, they scream at me._

_"I know, but I need more time. I will bring her with me. I swear"_

_They are restless. They don't like it here. It is too warm, they say to me._

_"The family will return home. Be patient" they nod and as sudden as they had come they vanish and the inmates are now back in my sight._

_I take a calming breathe. I need to move things along._

_"Yo! Landau, what are you doing here on your lonesome?" Steel walks by taking a bite from his half eaten apple._

_"I need to see her again"_

_"Are you gonna do your freaky voodoo shit again on your girl?"_

_I sigh, irritated, yes I will enjoy watching this man burn, "Yes. I need quiet"_

_"Well I'm bored so.." he shrugs and sits beside me, chewing with his mouth open._

_"Quiet" I murmur._

_"All right, all right", he says, chuckling._

_I close my eyes and concentrate. I transport my mind to her. I can feel her moving about. Putting items here and there._  
_"She's at the store" I whisper, not caring if he can hear me. "She's still scared from what happened this morning. It was really early when they approached her. She's really scared"_

_"Man, you are really messed up" he says, laughing, chewing._

_"SHUT UP!"_

_He laughs and defensively raises his hands in front of him._

_My mind goes quiet..._

* * *

"Gabriella," Mr Vickey calls. A young boy stood in front of him holding a plastic bag full of bubblegum and sweets.

She placed the cardboard full of washing powder on the floor and stood. "Yes. Sir"

"We're out of spare change. Fetch me some from my office"

The boy stood in front of Mr Vickey, he seemed distracted, his eyes moving about behind her. She looked from the boy to Mr. Vickey, "Okay". Turning she glanced at her surroundings, wondering if the boy could actually see. Shaking her head she blamed her craziness due to her lack of sleep.

She unconsciously shoved her hands inside her back pocket jeans and headed for the small office that resided Mr. Vickey's financial papers. She pushed the door open and there stood Jon, waiting for her.

* * *

The Hub was a popular hangout among college students and because the power was back and knew it would soon go off again they filled the club and socialized with one another as much as they would go out again soon.  
It was a school break after all and the rumors of a serial killer did not roam in their intoxicated atmospheres.  
The music pounded around the room and voices resonated around.

But all Gabriella could think about was what happened that afternoon.

Could she tell Troy what Jon told her? Would he ever understand?

"Yeah, I'm pissed. I mean this is a time when we should be having fun and chilling and instead we have to be on the lookout of some psycho serial killer who gets his thrills by attacking people during a blackout. I mean that's messed up shit"

Chad grabbed his bottle and drank half of it down. His frustration was evident.

Taylor rubbed his shoulder. "My roommate said she heard on the radio that Sheriff Hill requested people lock their doors and stay together at night. They might be close to finding the perpetrator"

"Yeah, AKA they don't know shit"

"The Sheriff's nephew was killed, Chad, don't you think this time he actually means it?" Troy said, sitting down and placing a drink in front of Gabriella. He could tell she was occupied, her mind was far from his reach. He grabbed his own drink and took a sip. He put it down and looked at her again. He followed her eyes and they were staring at the room supposedly Grant Hill was murdered.

"Hey" he covered his hand on top of hers, surprised at the touch she turned and faced him, "are you okay?" he asked her. She nodded and looked away from his interrogative stare. "I'm just tired". she said.

"You're tired? We could call it a night if you want" Taylor said, noting the tension that was obvious between the two since they arrived at the club.

"No. I don't want to be alone right now, and, besides," she faked a smile, "I missed you guys"

"Aww, we missed you two Gabs" Chad chuckled with his friendly warmth. Staring into his eyes she remembered the bloodshot plea she saw in him just a few hours ago. His begging for her help. "Hey, speaking of missing you" she began the question that she knew would raise suspicious eyebrows at her. "Are you okay?" she asked, feigning nonchalance.

Chad shrugged, holding the bottle down in his hand. "What do you mean?"

She tried to ignore the eyes that were focused on her, Troy's confusion going from Chad to her. How possibly could she word this, she thought.

"I mean have you seen anything strange, lately?"

"Ahh" Chad nodded, seemingly understanding her line of questioning, "The dorms were installed with a new security system last week. That perv can't get anywhere near us." He smiled, "It's sweet that you're worried about me, Gabs"

"Yeah", she returned his smile. Taylor smiled at her friend as well, assuming the same as her boyfriend. However Troy knowing what he knew, wasn't convinced.

Gabriella looked down at her purse, she could not hide her fear any longer without concerning Troy. If what Jon said was true then people would not stop dying until she left with them, even her boyfriend's best friend. The last time she didn't listen to Jon Grant Hill died.

"I need the restroom"

"I'll come with you" Taylor said, grabbing her purse.

"No, it's okay. I'll only be a minute"

Confused that they usually accompanied one another, Taylor nodded, "Okay".

She sat back down bemused as she watched her friend walk into the restroom door.

Troy turned from Taylor to Chad, knowing he could not say to Chad what he had planned to with Taylor there. "Hey, Tay, can you go and check on her, you know talk to her girl to girl. She just seems distracted today"

"Oh. Okay, yeah sure" she grabbed her purse and left them.

Seconds after she disappeared from sight Troy turned to Chad. "Yo, is Gabby okay?" Chad questioned.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I need you to help me do something and you can't tell anyone about it. Not your parents, not even Taylor".

Seeing the dead seriousness in Troy's eyes Chad placed his bottle down. "What are you talking about, man?"

"I need you to help me get rid of someone"

He stopped and let his words sink in. "What do you mean 'get rid of'?"

"Chad," he started, "this guy is the reason Gabriella can't sleep at night. He's haunting her and there's nothing I can do about it because he's in prison. He's haunting her while he's in prison. What police officer is going to believe me? Gabriella is pulling away from me, I can feel it. And i can't have that. I can't. I need to kill this guy"

Chad stood back frozen; not believing a word that came out of his friend's mouth. "And killing him is your best option?"

Troy nodded.

"Troy, I'm not going to try to understand what you mean when you say a guy is haunting Gabriella from prison because I don't but what I do understand in your craziness is murder. That's a criminal offense Troy, do you understand that?"

"I do. And as my friend I'm asking for your help. Will you help me?"

Shocked, Chad sat back in his chair. He could not formulate a word.

* * *

Taylor walked in the restroom and immediately saw Gabriella banging her head against the glass mirror. A drop of blood running down her face.

"GABRIELLA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

She continued hitting her head as hard as she could until pieces of glass began to fall down as more blood gathered and almost covered her face.

"GABRIELLA, STOP IT PLEASE"

She walked to her and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her back from the sight of danger. "Gabriella, please"

Gabriella looked into the eyes of her best friend; seeing sadness and fear written in her face. "They want me"

"What?"

"They want to take me away"

Not understanding the words she was saying Taylor let go of her shoulders and quickly walked inside a stall and pulled down a chunk of toilet paper and walked back to her. She wiped her face and the blood smudged. "Oh." Taylor winced at the sight of Gabriella's face.

"I don't understand. Why would you do this to yourself, sweetheart?"

"He wants us to be a family. He said he wants me to be the person I ran away from being"

"What are you talking about?"

Gabriella stared into Taylor's eyes, getting frustrated that she was not understanding her. "I gave her up for a reason"

"Who?"

"My baby. "


End file.
